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11 If any of you don't obey this order, a wooden beam will be taken from your house and sharpened on one end. Then it will be driven through your body,[a] and your house will be torn down and turned into a garbage dump. 12 I ask the God who is worshiped in Jerusalem to destroy any king or nation who tries either to change what I have said or to tear down his temple. I, Darius, give these orders, and I expect them to be followed carefully.

The Temple Is Dedicated

13 Governor Tattenai, Shethar Bozenai, and their advisors carefully obeyed King Darius.

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Footnotes

  1. 6.11 driven through your body: A well-known punishment in the ancient Near East.

11 Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled(A) on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble.(B) 12 May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there,(C) overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.

I Darius(D) have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.

Completion and Dedication of the Temple

13 Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates(E) carried it out with diligence.

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